Saudi Arabia on Saturday suspended all contact with Qatar after the first known conversation between leaders of the two countries failed to defuse tensions between the U.S. allies.

Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on Friday evening spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the first time since Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries broke diplomatic ties with Qatar in June, blaming it for having alleged ties...

Saudi Arabia on Saturday suspended all contact with Qatar after the first known conversation between leaders of the two countries failed to defuse tensions between the U.S. allies.

Qatar’s ruler, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, on Friday evening spoke with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the first time since Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries broke diplomatic ties with Qatar in June, blaming it for having alleged ties to terror groups.

The phone call came a day after U.S. President
Donald Trump
offered to serve as a mediator to help resolve a dispute that has created more instability in a volatile region and complicated the joint fight against Islamic State.

But hopes the phone call marked a turning point in the monthslong diplomatic crisis were quickly dashed, with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry accusing Qatar’s state media of distorting its account of the conversation between Sheikh Tamim and Prince Mohammed. The disagreement is essentially about protocol: Saudi Arabia says the phone conversation was requested by Qatar, not vice versa.

“What was published by the Qatar News Agency is a continuation of the distortion by the Qatari authority of the facts,” said a statement attributed to a Saudi Foreign Ministry official carried in the official Saudi Press Agency. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia declares that any dialogue or communication with the authority in Qatar shall be suspended until a clear statement explaining its position is made in public.”

And Which Countries It Trades With

Qatar’s official state news agency said the phone call between Prince Mohammed and Sheikh Tamim was facilitated by Mr. Trump and that during their conversation the two leaders “stressed the need to resolve this crisis by sitting down to the dialogue to ensure the unity and stability of the GCC countries,” a reference to the Gulf Cooperation Council, a regional bloc whose members are Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman.

Sheikh Tamim also welcomed an initiative by Prince Mohammed to assign two envoys in a bid to “resolve controversial issues in a way that does not affect the sovereignty of states,” the statement added.

A Qatari official said the angry Saudi response was an effort to make Sheikh Tamim look weak.

Saudi Arabia, the U.A.E., Bahrain and Egypt accuse Qatar of supporting regional extremist organizations and terrorist groups, and want the country to change its policies as a condition for dialogue.

Qatar denies it supports terrorism and says it has the right to pursue an independent foreign policy, including by maintaining links with Islamist groups like the Muslim Brotherhood. Doha rejected a list of 13 demands issued by the four countries, which included curbing diplomatic ties with Iran, severing links with the Muslim Brotherhood and closing the Al Jazeera television network. Mediation efforts by neighboring Kuwait and the U.S. have so far struggled to break the deadlock.

Widespread speculation Saudi Arabia is pushing for regime change in Qatar has further complicated matters. Last month, the kingdom pushed into prominence an obscure Qatari royal called Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali Al-Thani, an effort many in both Saudi Arabia and Qatar saw as a first step toward promoting leadership change in Qatar.

Before tensions flared up again, Saudi Arabia on Saturday initially struck a more conciliatory tone. The official Saudi Press Agency said Prince Mohammed “welcomed the desire” expressed by Sheikh Tamim “to sit at the dialogue table and discuss the demands of the four countries to ensure the interests of all.”

“There’s a willingness by both parties to talk with each other. That’s progress,” said Lori Plotkin Boghardt, a Gulf States expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “High-level U.S. engagement is critical to making this happen. But it’s going to take a sustained, long-term effort to overcome the damage of the crisis on both sides.”

The White House on Friday said Mr. Trump spoke separately to Prince Mohammed and to the leaders of the U.A.E. and Qatar to convey the message that unity among its Arab partners is essential to promoting regional stability and countering the threat of Iran.

“The president also emphasized that all countries must follow through on commitments...to defeat terrorism, cut off funding for terrorist groups, and combat extremist ideology,” the statement said.

The U.S. president had initially appeared to take credit for the diplomatic rupture, praising the decision of Saudi Arabia and others to cut ties with Qatar as evidence of the success of his visit to the region in May, when he encouraged regional powers to crack down on support for extremist groups.